Thursday, July 10, 2008

o fortuna!

birthdays (or birthday) is this week's theme. july is a big birthday month here on avenue c and I admit I've kind of seized on the today's theme the past few days. who knows I may ride this wave for the entire month - I'm certainly having a good time! on any day there are so many people who share that particular birth day and I've been having a good time choosing who to recognize and call attention to. there are so many people who make our world, and our species, better and/or more interesting. in response to yesterday's post where the mouse celebrated june jordan, coffee commented, "So many people pass by without us knowing" -- so true, so true.

I believe it was blogging buddy cergie who several months ago attempted to gather info about the birthdays of folks in the cyberhood - it was a fun game. I learned that I have a birthday twin in the cyberhood - WAT. how many of you played and did any one find that they have a birthday twin?

I have a weird relationship with birthdays.... I would love to be one of those people that always remembers someone's birthday ahead of time, sends a note or a card and my greeting arrives at just the right time. but, alas,I'm not one of those people, instead I'm one of those folks who seem to remember someone's birthday either on their actual birthday, or, even worse after the fact. my notes and cards most often don't get sent (ironically, many of the cards I intended to send were often acquired months ahead of time for a particular person; but unfortunately, like my intentions, the cards somehow get misplaced and are just paving that ol' road.... but hey, that's okay, since I believe in energy, I believe the good vibes and good thoughts I'm thinking are still going up into the cosmos and are still working their magic! the 'recipients' might not realize it, but the good wishes are being showered on them.

our theme this week had me thinking and wondering about birthday celebrations in other cultures and in other times. there's a lot of info out there about birthdays cross-culturally and historically. not surprisingly I learned that celebrating birthdays with gift giving is a relatively recent custom and a fairly 'culturally bound' custom at that. if interested go here for an interesting (and brief) article on birthday traditions.

up until today I've been featuring just one person who has a birthday on a particular day, however, july 10 is fraught with interesting and inspiring folks. here are a few quotes from a few of the folks who share this day:

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.marcel proust ( b. 10 july 1871)

Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without it, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible. mary mcleod bethune (b. 10 july 1875)

The complexity of things - the things within things - just seems to be endless. I mean nothing is easy, nothing is simple.alice munro (b. 10 july 1931)

I'd rather have friends who care than friends who agree with me.arlo guthrie (10 july 1947)When I was growing up, it was 'Communists'. Now it's 'Terrorists'. So you always have to have somebody to fight and be afraid of, so the war machine can build more bombs, guns, and bullets and everything.cindy sheehan (b. 10 july 1957)

So it doesn't have to be happy music to be inspiring.bela fleck (b. 10 july 1958)

I tried to find a youtube vid of the tavern poem/song that I liked (go here to read the lyrics - they are a hoot!), but struck out. so instead I offer o fortuna - which is okay as it's probably birthday boy carl's most recognizable piece from his adapation of the medieval collection of poems known as carmina burana.

on saturday we attended a concert of the cleveland orchestra performing this scenic cantata at blossom with a group of friends. it was a wonderful evening and a memorable addition to our holiday weekend. I wonder if the rest of the gang still have threads of o fortuna running through their heads?

dd - HOW DID I FORGET.... did I ever know? I seem to think I did, but when I don't write things down poof! and just further proof of my problem with birthdays. I hope you are having a most perfect day!!!!

reya.... as a crab I thank you now and later!!! I've been meaning to rewatch alice's restaurant for the last couple months but I want to watch it with my ma as I saw it when it came out with my mother who has no recollection of the film - I on the other hand remember clearly the experience of watching the movie when it came out with my parents - let us say it was a surreal experience....a bit like the movie itself.

dd - forgot to say thanks for the ashe quote - he wasn't on the list I was looking at, otherwise I most certainly would have highlighted him - he was an inspiring fellow....and another good guy who died way too young! his death and how he died was such a tragedy. thank you for this most wonderful quote - excellent mouse medicine!

anonymous -or anonymouse when is your birthday?

tut - bela is great - I love the banjo - he (and the flecktones come to cleveland quasi regularly - we've seen them a couple times - live music is sooo good)

rlb - that is so GREAT that your daughter's birthday is during this birthday extravaganza month and she's born in the month of the crab. please extend birthday wishes to her from the mouse, or peut-etre I can do it myself, she is smiler, is she not???

my birthday isn't today or even tomorrow, but it is coming up. yes I am a crab and I was born with the moon in cancer! to give you a hint, I will tell you that I share a birthday with edgar degas and herbert marcuse(to name but a couple folks I enjoy being a birthday twin with - and of course WAT too! that cutie!!)

thanks for the virtual cake, my favorite kind seeing that I'm really a pie girl! probably because I'm such a tart! ;)

I have one friend who takes her birthday very seriously, and gets quite angry if anyone forgets it. I forgot it in 2001, because it came two weeks after Sept. 11, and I thought she'd never forgive me. It's strange, because she's otherwise a very cool, kind person. But this birthday hangup of hers is a problem.

Wow - what a spectacular celebration! I feel like I'm at a party just reading your post - it's just what I needed to perk me up on this otherwise gracky sort of day (for me, at least).

The quotes with the birthday folks are perfect - I keep a Quotes Journal to remind me of all the good and true things I sometimes forget and I love adding to it... Plus Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - "Sinister Minister" has got to be one of the coolest songs ever!

rlb - saïd taghmaoui is mighty hot! but boy is he typecast to play bad guys (perhaps we should not really go down that avenue for now) = thanks for the introduction to some more birthday mates - rosalyn sounds pretty neato - altho she really should have kept her family name - zipper has more, well, zip than yalow! but at least she didn't have to move to far from her alphabetical destiny.....

gary - my dear....it's been fun.....can't say it's much 'work' in terms of time... I'm a fast researcher and let's say my brain is wired to ZIP along - lets say I get an idea and there it goes.... hopefully no one really critiques my grammar, etc! ah wolves, another animal that's gotten a bad rap!! wolf medicine is mighty powerful stuff!!

Hi ! Kimy !In the past, on the 15th of February, you (Kimy) told me your anniversary is the same day than the one of Wat. Wat's date is july the 19th. I noticed it somewhere so I can remember of it easily.

What a beautiful firework ! It is at the same time a firework and a dandelion tassel. Instead they are so different, they are both born at the same time...

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unless noted otherwise, all photos on the mouse are taken by me, kim yanoshik. you are welcome to use them if credit is given. if you seek to make a profit, you need to first ask permission to use the photo; then you are obliged to share that profit with yours truly, otherwise karma will catch up with you!